Best Vietnamese in a Hut (2003)

Kim's Food to Go

The ramshackle structure that is the entirety of Kim's kitchen is about as out of place in Boulder as a fish in a tree, but it's a welcome sight in the dining landscape. Even though open kitchens -- those stages on which smiling cooks in starched whites glide around under dramatic point lighting, showing off for a room full of ravenous diners -- are quite trendy these days, they don't have anything on Kim's. At Kim's, there's nowhere to hide and no need to, since nothing is more natural, nothing more authentic, than the cooking being done here. The curries are delicate and sweet. Vietnamese egg rolls -- hot, right out of the oil, packed with chewy glass noodles and bits of sweet onion -- are just as good as you'd find for lots more money in a sit-down establishment. And the typical Chinese sesame chicken on the menu is anything but typical, with a surprising, superior maple-y glaze.